Domaine Billard-Gonnet, Pommard 1er Cru, Les Rugiens-Bas, 2015

The 2015 vintage on the Côte de Beaune produced wines of exceptional ripeness and concentration — bigger, warmer, and more opulent than the precise 2014 — and Billard-Gonnet's Rugiens-Bas captures that vintage personality while retaining the iron-rich mineral signature that defines the site. A decade on, this wine is entering its window of peak drinking: the tannins have integrated, the fruit has evolved, and the complex secondary notes that only time can produce are beginning to emerge. Two vintages of the same premier cru from Billard-Gonnet offer a rare opportunity to taste how terroir expresses itself across different growing seasons.